Still Alive
by DragonChild157
Summary: Conner learns that you can never truly lose someone... Set in season one.
1. Your Choice

Two days ago, my mother's dog had to be put down.

R.I.P. Ranger. You will be sorely missed.

* * *

ENJOY!

* * *

It wasn't supposed to happen like this. It wasn't supposed to _happen,_ period.

Conner carefully climbed down into the bin. It was full of broken glass shards, some massive, others incredibly small. He didn't mind. He was the super clone, glass couldn't harm him.

He could still hear yelling and explosions in the distance. His team was perfectly capable of handling the rest without him. Right now, he was determined to get to his injured teammate, and to help them.

Everything had gone so wrong…

* * *

_"Conner look out!" _

_ Wally's warning came too late. Mere seconds after Wally's yell, the blow made impact right between the clone's shoulder blades. Conner was thrown forward off his feet with a cry. A second brilliant red beam of light hit him while he was down, sending him skidding across the concrete floor before slamming headfirst into a wall._

_ For once he didn't get back up right away, thirsty for more. _

_ This strange new villain was tough. And whatever sort of energy he was shooting them with, it hurt. Even Conner, the clone of Superman, had to admit he was feeling the hit's more than he usually did. _

_If he was being honest, it ran a close second to kryptonite. _

_ Wolf had taken several hits, but that wasn't unusual. After being enhanced with Kobra Venom, Wolf could and often had taken a pounding on many _many_ occasions. But tonight was different. Tonight when Wolf was hit, he bled. And he bled profusely. _

_Conner had been moving in for the take down when the final blow hit Wolf. _

_The super clone had been racing toward the villain, when the red garbed figure had lifted Wolf up into the air above his head with both hands and flung him away. Seconds later, Conner's fist had crashed into that crimson helmet and their foe was down, leaving only his goons to attend to. _

_Conner had employed a trick he'd seen Superman, and on a couple very _rare_ occasions Wonder Woman, use when they were in a big hurry. He grabbed a metal pipe and quickly and carefully wrapped it around the man, effectively tying the unconscious villain up. _

_Then he'd looked for Wolf. _

_The massive India wolf had landed in a big blue bin, and Conner had been quick to go to him. Upon reaching the bin's edge and looking in, he'd expected to see Wolf getting up and shaking it off the way he always did. _

_But not this time. _

_This time was different. He was horrified to look in and realize that the bin was full of broken shards of glass of every size shape and color. Many of them were slick and wet. _

_Many of them were stained red._

* * *

Conner shook his head as his eyes took in the damage to his canine friend. It shouldn't have been this bad. Wolf's Kobra Venom had given him some degree of invincibility. He wasn't to Conner's level by any means, but the glass shouldn't have cut him up.

Not like this.

Wolf had apparently stopped trying to get up. It hadn't taken him long to realize that moving only injured him more. Now he simply lay there in his nest of glass, thick white pelt stained bloody crimson. He lifted his massive head to look at Conner, and he did something the clone had never seen him do before.

The proud alpha, _whimpered_.

It was a soft, barely audible whimper to a normal human's hearing, but it would've been enough for a wolf and it was definitely more than enough for Conner. Wolf knew that. The clone quickened his pace, being careful not to push the shards of glass closer to Wolf when he stepped on them.

At first he tried to pick Wolf up, thinking to carry him out of the bin. But Wolf gave such a piteous, pain filled yip when the clone slid his arms underneath him that Conner didn't dare try to lift him. So he did the only thing he could think to do.

Conner carefully settled himself in the glass by Wolf's head and gently cradled the massive canine's head in his lap. "It's ok Wolf." He found himself whispering. "Everything's going to be ok."

He gently stroked the India wolf's thick white fur. He glanced down when he felt something sticky, then quickly glanced away again when he realized what it was. But he didn't cease his stroking. He just continued petting his dog and friend, whispering what comfort he could aloud and silently praying that his friends would wrap this up soon, and that Wolf would be alright.

His second prayer at least was answered.

The sounds of battle soon died away. He could hear his friends talking and laughing as they tied the villains up, but he didn't move from his spot, patiently waiting for them to finish so that they could come to help him.

**_Conner? _**M'Gann thought anxiously over the psychic link. She'd noticed his absence after the strange new villain had been taken down, and she could sense his worry and distress now. **_Conner where are you? What's wrong?_**

**_Over here in the blue bin. _**Conner answered back.**_ Wolf's hurt and I can't get him out on my own without hurting him. _**The clone worriedly bit his lip. **_Please hurry, it's _****really ****_bad…_**

The team cast each other worried looks and raced for the bin.

Conner wasn't prone to exaggeration. In fact, if he ever did exaggerate, the team was pretty sure that would be the day you could knock them all over with a feather at one blow. Today wasn't that day. If Conner said it was _really _bad, then they had better be prepared for one heck of an injury.

They weren't disappointed.

"Miss Martian, lift him out telekinetically." Kaldur ordered grimly. "And signal the bio ship. The police will be able to handle this from here."

M'Gann nodded, eyes glowing silver green as she called her ship. She held out her hands towards Conner and Wolf, and the massive white India wolf slowly floated up into the air. While she slowly levitated Wolf out, Conner hurriedly scrambled out of the bin after him.

M'Gann started to put him down when Robin intervened. "Don't put him down." He suddenly ordered. M'Gann stopped, giving the boy wonder a curious look. Robin moved closer, tilting his head a little to see underneath Wolf.

"He's got lots of glass shards sticking out of him, and a lot of those are underneath. If you set him down that's gonna hurt, and it might drive the glass up into him further." Robin stated.

"So let's just pull them out then." Conner growled.

Robin shook his head. "No."

Conner stared at the boy wonder as if he'd lost his mind. "No?" he repeated.

Zatanna set a hand on her hip. "Um… Isn't that counterproductive?" she asked. She gave a helpless gesture in Wolf's general direction. "I mean, we can't just leave all that glass in there."

Robin had slipped underneath Wolf now and appeared to be examining the wound's in the canine's belly, though he was being extra careful it seemed not to touch the broken shards of glass. Wally was doing the same with the glass shards embedded in Wolf's back and sides.

"We can and we will." Robin answered grimly. He peered out from underneath Wolf, looking up at his friend. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Tamponading of the wound?" Wally asked.

Robin nodded. "Yeah. If it is, we need to jostle him as little as possible and get him to a vet fast."

Conner frowned. That big word Wally had used wasn't one he knew. He'd never heard his teammates use it before, and the genomorphs had never taught it to him. "What's tam-…?" he frowned, trying to wrap his tongue around the unfamiliar word. "A tamp-…." He growled and shook his head. "What is it?

Wally backed away from Wolf, apparently having seen enough. "Tamponading of the wound. It means whatever caused the wound also plugged it, stopping the bleeding. So long as those glass shards stay in, they're inhibiting the blood flow. So until we get Wolf to a vet who knows what he's doing, those glass shards are staying right where they are."

Kaldur nodded to M'Gann. "Get him aboard the ship, and keep him levitated. We do not wish the glass shards to enter in any further." To Robin he added, "Robin will pilot the bio ship."

The team hurried to obey. M'Gann floated Wolf up the ramp, taking Robin's customary seat while he took the pilot's chair. It was weird for the Martian, sitting somewhere else in the bio ship and letting someone else pilot her.

Sensing her boyfriend's distress, she moved Wolf closer to Conner.

Wolf barely responded, the massive dog hanging limply in her hold as she floated him across the cabin to Conner. Conner leaned forward in his seat, reaching out anxious hands to his pet. Wolf wagged his tail ever so slightly at Conner's touch, his ears pricking up a little. But it was clear he was hurting.

"Robin, get us in the air." Kaldur ordered grimly. He touched his fingers to his com link. "Aqualad to Batman…"

* * *

Conner didn't quite understand what his ears were telling him.

Or maybe he just didn't want to. His fingers dug deeper into Wolf's thick white fur. The massive canine flicked an ear at him, then lifted his head to give him a look.

Conner loosened his hold, but he wasn't about to let go. "…what are you saying…?" he breathed, starring at those people in the white coats. Those people Batman said would take care of Wolf.

The dark knight had sent them to S.T.A.R. labs.

While they generally dealt with humans, S.T.A.R. had also dealt with aliens, meta-humans of every description, magic users, and they had experience with several different makes and models of robots and androids. An India wolf upgraded to something roughly the size of a pony through the use of Kobra Venom was a little off the beaten path, even for them, but they were nothing if not flexible. Working with individuals like those in the Justice league, they had to be.

You never knew what the league would hand you.

It had been murder for the team, Conner in particular, sitting out in the waiting room while the doctors, scientists, and vets worked to save Wolf's life. But at last one of the white coats had come, asking for Conner. As he led the clone down the hall he said nothing of Wolf's condition, other than that he was stable for now.

In a sterile white room, Conner had finally gotten to see Wolf. He wasn't the least bit surprised to see Batman there already. But he only spared the dark knight a passing thought, he was more worried about the giant white form laying on the table.

The huge canine was bandaged and appeared to be resting comfortably, though he kept casting what seemed to be irritated glances at the I.V. set in his foreleg. He appeared weak, but he was definitely more alert and responsive than he'd been when the white coats had whisked him away from Conner. He wagged his tale, ears pricking up as he raised his head, intelligent gold eyes fixed on his boy.

After the initial greeting, they'd settled for Conner sitting on the table with Wolf's huge head in his lap.

Then the white coats had started talking.

* * *

One of the doctors, an older gentleman, reached out a hand as if to give Conner's shoulder a reassuring pat or squeeze. Conner avoided the touch, glaring at the man, silently daring him to try it again.

The doctor sighed. "I know this is hard." He said gently. "And I wish we could do more..."

"But you said he'd make a full recovery." Conner growled.

One of the other white coats, a younger woman who's badge I.D.'d her as a veterinarian gave him a sad smile. "If it were only the damage from the fight we had to contend with, then yes. But it's not _just _that… What did you say your dog's name was?"

"Wolf." Conner supplied grudgingly.

The woman nodded. "Wolf. Wolf is the way he is because he was infused with a substance called Kobra Venom, yes?" A nod from Conner. She went on. "Up to now that's been an asset for him. Now that same venom is what's causing the problem…. Here, I'll show you what I mean."

She activated a screen, then turned and slid a glass slide under an electronic microscope. The corresponding footage appeared on screen.

She pointed. "This is a sample of Wolf's blood. Now, you know that Kobra Venom enhances the users musculature and hardens the skin, to the point where the skin cracks and splits because of all the new muscle mass underneath. The only signs of cracking I saw on Wolf were on the inner legs so in a way he's fortunate to retain a somewhat normal appearance."

She sighed, sadly stroking the fur of Wolf's shoulder. "We've yet to truly get a handle on what it is that man's gun shoots, what sort of energy it's harnessing. But whatever it is, it's causing the Kobra Venom in Wolf to self destruct."

Conner stared at her, then looked at the screen.

As if to prove her words, or maybe to punctuate her statement, one of the cells pictured on the screen chose that moment to rupture. It simply burst, as if someone had poked it with a pin. Conner looked down at the mass of white fur in his arms.

"That's why the glass cut into him like that…" he murmured.

The older doctor nodded. "Indeed. And that's why he must be put down now."

Conner jerked, arms tightening reflexively around Wolf. "What? No! You can't!"

Wolf gave a yip, though whether it was pain of his wounds or annoyance for being jerked around like that, Conner wasn't sure.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Batman. But the dark knight wasn't looking at him. Batman's eyes narrowed at the various doctors, vets, and scientists in the infamous Bat Glare. The look that had, and probably always would, set many a Gotham villain shaking in their boots.

"Wait outside." His ordered calmly.

Conner moved to get up, but the dark knight's hand on his shoulder kept him from rising. It was with a start that he realized Batman was telling the white coats to wait outside. Didn't it usually work the other way around? He looked down at Wolf and decided he was glad it wasn't running that way this time. No way was he leaving Wolf alone in such a state with people that wanted to kill him.

As soon as the door closed behind the last one, Conner looked to Batman. "Batman, you can't let them do it."

The cold, emotionless white lenses of the dark knight's mask slowly rounded to face him. "I can't." He agreed quietly. "The decision has to come from you."

"From me…?" Conner repeated, stunned that the dark knight could even ask such a thing of him. "Batman… I can't. I _won't_. I won't let them kill Wolf. So what if the Kobra Venom is self destructing? It just means Wolf will go back to being a normal Indian wolf. He won't be able to go on missions anymore, that's all…. Isn't it?"

Batman's silence was a more than adequate answer.

Conner felt the blood rushing from his face. He was certain if he looked in a mirror at this very moment his face would be whiter than Wolf's fur.

"…it's more than that…isn't it?" Batman nodded, and Conner felt his heart begin to pound harder, faster. "Batman…what is it I'm not getting…?"

The dark knight sighed, and Conner was abruptly reminded that this man in front of him was completely and utterly human. For those few brief moments he was being allowed to see a side of Gotham's dark knight that, as far as he knew, only Robin had seen. He was seeing the human side of the Batman.

And it scared him more than the actual Batman side did.

"Conner." Batman said calmly. "What's the one reason we haven't taken away Mammoth's powers? Or Blockbuster's? Why haven't we changed them back into humans?"

Conner frowned, wondering where the change of subject had come from. "Because we can't. The Blockbuster formula is a permanent change to the body. It had the same effect when mixed with Bane's venom. We can't get it out of their bodies now."

Batman nodded. "It's fully integrated with their systems." He agreed. "Bonded with them at the cellular level. To try and remove it would be to kill them."

Conner nodded. "I know that. But what does that have to do with…" he slowly trailed off as the pieces clicked together, and his eyes fell to Wolf. "…oh no…"

He looked up at that screen again, and the slow rupture of those cells on screen suddenly had a whole new meaning for him. He watched as yet another one exploded, right before his eyes. That was Wolf's life, disintegrating right in front of him.

He shook his head, unable to accept it.

No. No, no, no, this couldn't be happening. Not now. Not to Wolf. He couldn't lose Wolf now, not like this. Not here in this cold, white room, so sterile he was pretty sure it'd kill anything off if it was stuck in here long enough.

"Batman." He whispered. "Please…"

Again, that little bit of humanity peeked through the mask of the dark knight. And again, Conner found himself more afraid of this humanity than of the Batman.

"The Blockbuster formula is permanent Conner." He stated, sounding almost sad. "Whether he's put down here tonight, or whether you take him back to the mountain… Wolf _will_ die."

Batman slipped a hand underneath Conner's chin and lifted his head to face him. It was a gentle gesture uncharacteristic of the dark knight. Conner had only seen him do it once or twice before with Robin, and that was when Conner had walked in on them by accident.

"The only difference Conner…" the dark knight told him. "is where he dies, and how much it hurts."

That got Conner's attention. This was going to hurt Wolf?

"His cells are rupturing." Batman stated, reading the unspoken question. "It's still early. He doesn't feel any of it yet. But he will. And when that happens, there won't be anything we can do for him." He fell silent for a few moments, letting the clone mull it over.

"He's your dog Conner. Whatever your decision, the choice is yours…"

* * *

I'd originally intended this as a One-shot deal, but it sort of morphed into a "Two-shot plus epilogue" sort of deal. The whims of life right?

Review.

Until next time...


	2. Those We Love Never Really Go Away

Two days ago, my mother's dog had to be put down.

R.I.P. Ranger. You will be sorely missed.

* * *

ENJOY!

* * *

"You're doing the right thing Superboy." The older doctor said, sounding as though he was proud of him.

Conner glared at him, and the man immediately shut up.

"He won't feel a thing." The lady vet promised. She was drawing back the plunger on a syringe, filling it with liquid from a bottle.

Conner held Wolf closer at the thought that _that_ was the needle that would kill his friend. "I wish I believed that." He answered, looking down at Wolf.

He'd seen what happened when something was put down, back when he'd been at Cadmus.

Cadmus dealt mainly in clones amongst other things. It wasn't an exact science, though they'd certainly brought it pretty close, but every once in a while you got an unviable clone or genomorph. And when they were 'put down', with the way they thrashed it was a pretty safe bet to say they felt it.

He'd never seen it with his own eyes, as his first time out of the pod had been when Robin, Kaldur, and Wally rescued him. But he could hear what went on beyond the walls of his pod. He'd often asked questions. The genomorphs often answered him with images, their memories. After the fifth time he asked about those screams, he'd stopped asking.

That was part of the reason he was sitting here now.

He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to see the pain and betrayal in Wolf's eyes when death came. But at the same time he was most likely the only one who could restrain Wolf. That, and he didn't want Wolf to be alone amongst strangers when he died. Wolf knew Batman technically, but that didn't really count.

**_Conner? What's going on?_** M'Gann asked anxiously inside his mind.

Conner blocked her out, cutting his communication with her. He wanted to be alone right now. He stroked Wolf's fur, noticing that his hand was trembling. Wolf seemed to know something was wrong. He lifted his head, intelligent gold eyes searching Conner's face. Oh yes, his boy was upset about something.

He wagged his tail a little, and reached up to lick Conner's chin comfortingly.

Conner watched the vet apprehensively as she moved towards Wolf's I.V. line. It was the work of a few moments, and then she was through, the deed was done. He waited expectantly, waited for Wolf to cry out, to start thrashing in his arms. But there was nothing.

The vet hesitantly placed a hand on Conner's arm. "He won't feel anything." She promised again. "He'll get drowsy, and then he'll just drift off to sleep."

She wasn't lying.

It didn't take long. Wolf's eyes soon grew heavy, and he quietly seemed to drift off to sleep. But the long, unending wail of the heart monitor was like a dart in his heart when Wolf finally flat lined a few minutes later, and the massive India wolf breathed out one last time in a tired sort of sigh.

Conner kept mechanically petting him, his eyes never leaving Wolf's face. As if he expected Wolf to move all of a sudden. To open his eyes.

She hadn't been lying, Wolf hadn't felt a thing. It was nothing like the Cadmus 'put downs', and for that he was infinitely grateful.

Everything was a sort of blur after that.

He stayed there with Wolf until Superman arrived with Martian Manhunter, and then Batman silently led him from the room. He followed the dark knight back down the hall to the waiting room. His friends were there, and they were crying, or at least the girls were. They already knew.

He half expected them to be angry with him for making that decision, but no, they all moved round to comfort him.

Sometime that night they returned to the mountain via the bio ship, though he had no memory of the journey. He made his way to his room, as if on auto pilot. That room he'd shared with Wolf so many times before. But never again.

Without a sound, without a tear, he laid down on his bed and closed his eyes.

* * *

Conner eyed the grave.

Or rather, he eyed the blurry mess that he knew should be Wolf's grave. They had buried Wolf the next day, and it was only after he had helped them shovel the last spade full of earth into that hole that the tears had come. It hadn't seemed real before, but somehow, this made it real. And it made it final. Wolf was gone. There was nothing left to do.

Conner had killed him.

It had been a week since then, and Conner came here often. He cried often too. It seemed inconceivable to him that such a strong, powerful creature like Wolf could be dead. Gone. But he knew it to be true, he'd _made_ him gone.

He'd _killed_ him.

Not for the first time, and definitely not for the last, the almost one year old clone bowed his head to rest on his knees and wept for his missing friend.

* * *

"Just trust me ok?"

Conner silently followed Robin, feeling as if he were sleepwalking. It'd been like this since he'd lost Wolf. Like he was in a daze.

Robin led him down the halls by the hand, reminding Conner of the little toddlers he saw at the park. He idly wondered which of them was the toddler, the one being led? Or the one dragging the other along?

The others were waiting in the living room.

All were seated, as if they were going to have a movie night. Conner shook his head, trying to gently pull his hand from Robin's. "I'm…not really in the mood for a movie night guys." He said softly.

Robin wasn't about to give in though. "It's not a movie night." He answered, keeping a tight grip on the clone's hand. Shoving Conner into his seat on the couch next to M'Gann, he put his hands grimly on his hips and grinned. "At least not that kind of movie." Offering a mock bow to M'Gann, he gestured at the waiting teens gathered around. "Miss M, if you'd do the honors?"

M'Gann's eyes glowed silver green.

**_Link established._** She thought directly into their minds. **_Who's first? _**

**_Got it. _**Artemis answered.

An image filled Conner's mind, unbidden. He guessed it was in the minds of the others too, but he didn't ask. The image was of Wolf. They were on a mission. He remembered that mission, they'd been fighting the injustice league.

Wolf had taken on Black Adam.

As they moved through the mission, the point of view kept shifting. One minute they were looking through the eyes of an archer with a green bow, obviously Artemis. The next they would be looking through the eyes of a young man with mocha colored skin and black sorcerer's eel tattoos on his arms.

"What was that?" Conner breathed when they had finished. He stared at his friends in shock.

"This is a memorial service." Robin answered, grinning. "Just with a meta-human touch. And _those,_ were our memories." He suddenly laughed and looked to M'Gann. "Ooh! I've got a good one!"

Wally batted playfully at his friend. "Dude!...Fine, but I've got the next one!"

What followed was a collection of memories the likes of which Conner would never have imagined. Not surprisingly, many of them were of Wolf on missions with them.

But over two thirds of them were of other things.

Him rough housing with Wolf on the matt, the team playing Frisbee or swimming with the India wolf out on the beach, or M'Gann sneaking tidbits to Wolf when she knew no one was looking. Everyone dissolved into fits of laughter when they realized that Zatanna and Artemis were guilty of sneaking food to Wolf on the sly as well. Memory after memory was proffered by himself and his teammates, and it warmed his heart to see how much good was there.

Then came one from Wolf's point of view.

* * *

_They gazed up at Conner's face through color blind eyes. _

_They saw Conner tense as the vet moved toward the I.V. line in Wolf's paw. Wolf knew something was wrong, that Conner was worried and upset. He wagged his tail a little and reached up to give Conner a comforting lick. _

_He knew and understood more than his boy gave him credit for. _

_Wolf knew something was wrong. Knew that something was wrong _inside_ him. Just like when he'd first grown and become strong, after that metal thing with a bit of human in a jar had forced him to become what he was now. He'd sensed the changes then. And he sensed new changes now._

_ Bad changes. _

_He didn't feel anything yet, but he knew it wouldn't last long. That was probably what was worrying his boy. His boy knew. Somehow, his boy knew. Wolf could feel his boy petting him, knew his boy wouldn't leave him here alone. If the bad changes could be fixed, his boy would do it. _

_But he understood if his boy couldn't. _

_He nuzzled into his boy's stomach, and was happy to see a little smile touch his boy's cheeks. That was why he'd stayed with this boy, back in India. That was why he'd let his pack go without him. He had liked this boy. As time had gone by, he'd come to love this boy. _

_His eyelids were growing heavy, it was getting harder to stay awake. He nuzzled into his boy's stomach one last time before allowing his eyes to fall closed. He knew his boy loved him._

_And he absolutely _adored_ his boy…_

* * *

Tears glittered on Conner's cheeks as the memory ended.

His teammates were the same. All eyes slowly turned to settle on M'Gann. They had all known that M'Gann had tapped into a mind inside the treatment room to learn what was going on. They just hadn't realized that mind had been Wolf's.

M'Gann gently cupped Conner's cheek in her hand.

"He loved you Conner." She said with a tearful smile. "And he only ever wanted you to be happy." She gently brushed Conner's bangs to one side. "You didn't kill him Conner. He's still alive, so long as we all remember him. And I don't think any of us is likely to forget."

Conner looked to the others, and they all shook their heads no. No, they wouldn't forget. He smiled and gathered M'Gann into a hug.

"Thank you." He murmured. "Thank you all…"

* * *

Conner sat by Wolf's gravesite.

He wasn't crying. He rarely did anymore. It had been almost a month now, since Wolf had died. Conner no longer thought of himself as a murderer. He missed Wolf. He missed him like crazy. He missed the warmth of his fur, the shrewd wildness in his gaze, the solid support of his presence. He missed Wolf.

But he was healing.

A sound caught his ear. The clone turned and rose to his feet. It was coming from the bushes a little farther down the hill. He slowly made his way down the slope, tracking the sound and sweeping the area ahead of him with his infrared vision.

There.

He slid down the last bit of slope. A young pup wedged into a bush. He gently lifted the young creature out of it's predicament, his face getting bathed with kisses as a thank you. He gave a hesitant smile, before slowly trudging back up the way he'd come.

He paused for a moment at Wolf's grave, unsure.

After several long minutes, he turned and carried the squirming, leggy young pup into the mountain and down to the kitchen. The rest of the team was there, and they all 'ooh'd and 'ah'd over the puppy in his arms while M'Gann put some scraps from her cutting board into a bowl. When she was ready, he set the pup down in front of the bowl and they all laughed as the ravenous little beast attacked the scraps with a voracious appetite.

Conner was laughing along with the rest when he happened to glance up and saw the dark knight standing there in the doorway.

Now that he'd seen that chink in the dark knight's armor, he found himself able to notice it more often, as if his eyes were now trained to detect it. It was the little signs really, and he doubted he would've noticed before if Batman hadn't shown him what to look for in that little room hidden in the depths of S.T.A.R. labs.

He gathered up the puppy, who's belly was now slightly distended, then turned hesitant eyes on Batman in the sudden silence as the others realized they had an audience. Batman quietly held out his hands, and Conner passed the pup over without question.

He'd come to trust Batman more since that night.

The dark knight carefully looked the pup over from nose to tail, seeming to take in every detail. When he seemed to be concluding his examination, Conner finally dared to break the silence.

"Can I keep him…?"

The dark knight's eyes narrowed. But at last, he carefully handed the pup back to Conner. "Have Red Tornado check him over." He turned to leave, but paused in the doorway.

"So long as he is healthy and carries nothing from our enemies…you may keep him."

* * *

Oh god, the _feels_! I damn near cried writing this story... :(

Review.

Until next time...


	3. Epilogue

Two days ago, my mother's dog had to be put down.

R.I.P. Ranger. You will be sorely missed.

* * *

ENJOY!

* * *

Batman watched from the shadows as the boy and his friends took the pup to go see Red Tornado.

The pup would check out. Batman knew that for a fact. After all, nothing went to the Bat Cave without having a thorough going over. And nothing _left_ the Bat Cave without an even _more_ thorough going over.

It'd been difficult getting the blasted thing really wedged into the bush without hurting it, so it couldn't get out on it's own, especially with the clone so near. Conner had very nearly caught him there at the end. But it had been worth it. The boy needed a dog, he was an animal lover at heart, just like his father was.

Both his fathers actually.

It was probably one of the best kept secrets in the world, but it was no secret to the Batman that Lex Luthor kept a long haired white Persian cat.

A "Mr. Fuzzle-Buns", the dark knight believed he called it...

Batman shook his head and quietly made his way to the zeta tubes. The hardest part was making sure Robin didn't find out. The last thing he needed was a dog running around the mansion. Or slobbering all over the seats of the Bat Mobile, because if Robin got a dog he'd most certainly want it to be a crime fighter.

He'd probably name it the "Robin Hound", or maybe "The Dog Wonder"…

He sighed, keying in the coordinates for the Bat Cave. Who was he kidding? Robin would eventually find out, of that he had no doubt. In fact, he'd almost be a little disappointed if Robin _didn't_ figure it out. He'd trained the boy to be a detective after all.

It'd almost be _worth_ the trouble of having the dog around if his little bird could manage it this time. The dark knight had been especially careful to cover his tracks this time around.

_Recognize. Batman. Zero. Two._

Now he just had to hope Alfred didn't spoil the game and rat him out…

* * *

Yep, couldn't resist...!

Review.

Until next time...


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